Microsoft just published its 2013 proxy statement, which discusses executive compensation. Now, Microsoft’s a big company, and a lot of factors weight in to payment decisions. A lot of good stuff is said about Ballmer’s leadership performance over the past year, but the board is very clear about some of his failings. As the statement notes, in reference to decisions regarding Ballmer’s compensation, “slower than anticipated sales of Surface RT devices and the decision to reduce prices to accelerate sales resulted in a $900 million inventory charge.”

That wasn’t the only hiccup – Windows 8 in general was less than the hit Microsoft wanted – but with everything taken together, the board elected to knock down Ballmer’s bonus package a bit, only awarding him 79% of what he was eligible for.

Sure, that still leaves hundreds of thousands of dollars for his bonus this year, and Ballmer already has billions to his name, but at least Microsoft’s not trying to pretend that everything went as planned with the Surface RT, even if the gesture lacks a lot of weight.

Stephen has been writing about electronics since 2008, which only serves to frustrate him that he waited so long to combine his love of gadgets and his degree in writing. In his spare time, he collects console and arcade game hardware, is a motorcycle enthusiast, and enjoys trapping blue crabs. Stephen's first mobile device was a 624 MHz Dell Axim X30, which he's convinced is still a viable platform. Stephen longs for a market where phones are sold independently of service, and bandwidth is cheap and plentiful; he's not holding his breath. In the meantime, he devours smartphone news and tries to sort out the juicy bitsRead more about Stephen Schenck!